Music creation or composition is a creative process that must be based on music theory. The structure of a piece has a clear logic of construction. Some masterpieces of world classics are literally calculated mathematically. It is no coincidence that in ancient Greece music was among the mathematical sciences.
It is a great misconception to claim that great composers composed their own works under the influence of inspiration. The geniuses of music: Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Mahler, and Rachmaninoff set aside time every day to compose.
What is music made of?
Roughly speaking, music is a sequence of sounds in a certain rhythm that is emotionally colored. Most often a piece contains the following elements:
Let’s examine each concept in more detail.
A melody is a single-voice expressed musical thought. There are guidelines for the structure of the melody line:
- The principle of balance. You don’t want to overload the melody line. If you want the listener to memorize the material quickly, then you need to observe the principle of balance. This lies in the complementarity of rhythm and intonation system. If the intonation system includes the difficult-to-hear elements, such as jumps in wide intervals, the presence of melismatics, deviations or modulation and other complicating factors, then you should use a simple rhythm. If the melody is simple in terms of intonation, then a more complex rhythm is prescribed.
- The principle of the melodic wave. Excellent perceived melody built on the alternation of rising and falling motion.
- Intonational unity. The musical theme may contain leading intonations (intervals). Bright examples of works that have a second intonation are Mozart’s Requiem (Lacrimosa), the main theme of the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
It is worth noting that the melody does not necessarily have to be conducted in the upper registers, it can also be in the bass or other voices.
To write a truly expressive and beautiful melody you need to:
- Visualize the artistic image that needs to be embodied in the music. Ask yourself questions: is the composition instrumental or vocal? What is the character? All of these questions, will allow you to determine the means of expression. One section of this article discusses the means of expression in detail.
- Improvise. Play and listen more. Many musicians find a great melodic line just by improvising. The most interesting variations may not appear immediately.
If improvisation is difficult, try to compose a few melodies that are emotionally similar. Record them either on a dictaphone or in a notebook. - Modify. Take a particular theme of your composition, try changing something about it, such as a single note, a fragment, or tonality.
Listen to see if it gets better. - Analyze other works. Note what means of expression the composer used in the tunes you like. This will help you understand what sounds good and what sounds bad.
If you are creating a classical piece, you need to develop the melody. There are several ways to develop a melody:
Harmony
Harmony allows you to combine sounds into consonances, which in turn form a sequence. Harmonies in this sense are represented by intervals and chords. The most common harmonic turns in a composition are characteristic of accompaniment.
Simply put, an accompaniment is an accompaniment for a melody. A texture is defined as a sound-filled space that has development. There are several types of texture in accompaniment:
Chordal. The texture is based on chords in a rhythmic arrangement.
Figurations. A distinction is made between harmonic – playing chord sounds in sequence and melodic figurations – sequential playing of chord sounds with the addition of non-chord sounds.
Albertian bass is rhythmically evenly decomposed bass. In some cases it is perceived as a hidden two-voice.